Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T05:32:08.916Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Modernization and consanguineous marriage in Beirut

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Myriam Khlat  and
Suzan Halabi
Myriam Khlat
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Suzan Halabi
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Recent data do not demonstrate any trend away from consanguineous marriages in the urban Middle East. The continued observance of this preferential custom may correspond to the persistence of an archaic trait among urban dwellers; if this holds true, then one would expect consanguineous couples to conform more to the traditional family pattern than others. In order to test this hypothesis, 100 women married to a relative and 100 matched controls, selected from a hospital setting in Beirut, were interviewed with respect to their household type (nuclear/extended), residential pattern (proximity of parents and parents-in-law's residence to theirs), contacts with family and sex definitions. A substantial proportion of the respondents comply with the traditional norms prevalent in the Middle East (25–55%, according to the criterion), but no difference is detectable between cases and controls in this respect.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , October 1986 , pp. 489 - 495
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bates, D. & Rassam, A. (1983) Peoples and Cultures in the Middle East, pp. 208, 227. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Cain, M. (1985) Women's Status and Fertility in Developing Countries. Staff Working Papers, No. 682, Population and Development Series, No. 7. World Bank, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Fleiss, J.L. (1981) Statistical Methods for Rates and Proportions. pp. 114, 122–123. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Gulick, J. (1976) The Middle East: an Anthropological Perspective, p. 207. Goodyear, Pacific Palisades, California.Google Scholar
Hurd, G. (1978) Human Societies, An Introduction to Sociology, pp. 83–85. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar
Morgan, S.P. & Rindfuss, R.R. (1984) Household structure and the tempo of family formation in comparative perspective. Popul. Stud. 38, 139.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patai, R. (1969) Golden River to Golden Road, p. 474. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prothro, E.T. & Diab, L.N. (1974) Changing Family Patterns in the Arab East, p. 66. American University of Beirut, Lebanon.Google Scholar
Todd, E. (1983) La Troisieme Planete. Structures Familiales et Systemes Ideologiques, p. 174. Seuil, Paris.Google Scholar